For me, all signs point to Brown being worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 200K. I guess he's got 4 months to prove me wrong. Honestly, Ortiz was pretty good last night, and played a big role in the win. A three headed forward corps of Ortiz, Mullins and Brown is pleasingly diverse in style, but is it strong enough to get us to the playoffs? Brown had the desired effect at forward, but given some of his defense, I'm not sure he's an effective wing option for us. When Mullins comes back, we'll have a real battle on our hands. At that price tag, I'm not sure Brown stays, even if he plays significant minutes. Which is fine by me. We need him now.
I've seen the 3-5-2 mentioned as a possibility few times on here. It might backfire tremendously, but if the season goes down the hole I'd give it a shot. It makes Acosta less isolated and gives him a free floating role(think 2004 Christian Gomez), puts Ortiz in his natural role(2nd striker) to open up the field, and leaves Mullins/Brown as the target/poacher in front of goal. The two only questions would be the effectiveness of the back three and learning a new formation midseason. Of course, this is all speculation. I sincerely doubt a Ben Olsen team ever moves away from any formation that has a back four.
A 3-5-2 would never work with this roster. Who plays the outside mids in that formation? They have to defend like crazy and play offense. Josh Gros had that type of motor, who has that now? Sam doesn't, you would break a fragile Nyarko down in that role. That leaves what? Kemp? Not a real and consistent offensive threat. NDL? Assuming he gets back, maybe he can be the Josh Gros type except that since his rookie season, NDL is worse offensively than Gros was. Then, what happens to OA? Is your back 3 Opare, Birnbaum, Robinson? Two many holes and variables.
you made some excellent and insightful points. I believe them. I look forward to Olsen giving the 3-5-2 a spin. He'll show Juve how it's done
We dont have enough central defenders. We only have 4. For 3 psoitions. If someone gets injured or suspended, your left with Robinson and no one.
Olsen demands a lot of defending from his wings. I'm not so sure it would be a huge change for Nyarko and Sam - who are already regularly subbed out as it is. It's an interesting idea, anyway. Kemp in that role is probably a real threat to get off dangerous crosses and distribute behind the line in transition. The problem there is that although one of our likely starters has the speed to get on some of those, neither is known to be particularly adept with their craniums. I wonder how Shooter would do inverted...
I agree in general. But I'd just like to note that Kemp has quietly turned into a defensive rock although it's been at the cost of some of his offensive production.
True. With Korb and Kemp (the killer K's?) playing well, we don't miss Franklin and NDL at all. Makes it hard for Odoi Atsem and Robinson to get any playing time, too. (Does anyone still consider Robinson a right back? That's how he was "advertised," but he doesn't play there when he does get in.) I've got to say that Korb's return has been a really pleasant surprise during this shit run we've been having.
We have finally found where Alhaji Kamara is going: https://t.co/kc3UhBhziy— The District Press (@DistrictPressDC) June 23, 2017 D.C. United has confirmed this move to Black and Red United https://t.co/fau1arObCs— The District Press (@DistrictPressDC) June 23, 2017 Al-Taawoun FC, of the Saudi Professional League, announced on Twitter this morning that they had signed Alhaji Kamara. The amount of the transfer fee, if any, is currently unknown at this time and is typically not released by MLS or its teams.
According to Goff, it's $250,000. I think United gets to keep 1/3 of that. D.C. United has sold @superkam17 to Saudi club Al Taawon for a $250,000 transfer fee. (DCU had signed him last year for free.)— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) June 23, 2017
Correct. We essentially traded Kamara (allocation money from transfer fee and international slot) for Brown.
Even if you disregard the 10 goats, 2 camels, and a well used but not abused 3x5 rug that was paid as a finders fee
So a few weeks ago my target list Kenwyne Jones, Will Bruin, Juninho and Kekuta Manneh. As things have developed I'm starting to think that Bruin and Manneh are increasingly less likely to be traded. Bruin has gotten into decent scoring form which Seattle may feel reluctant to part with. And Manneh just had his breakout game which probably means more and more minutes in the coming weeks. A new potential trade partner to keep an eye out for is San Jose. San Jose just signed a new attacking DP and made a coaching change. Signing Quzaishvili should theoretically make it even harder for the guys on the bench to get into the lineup. My favorite target here is Shea Salinas. Talented, affordable, domestic and still youngish. And he fits a need. Unfortunately I see San Jose as more likely to want to dump Simon Dawkins' big salary. And I can just see Kasper being the sucker to do it, the same way we got Igboananike last year. Some other names I'm looking at are Victor Ulloa in Dallas who is not getting the minutes his talent deserves. It's hard to break into a team that plays Gruezo and Acosta. I'm also looking at Montreal who is being linked to Wesley Sneijder. They already have a surplus of central midfielders. The player I'm looking at is Hernan Bernardello. I'm not wild about the idea, but he does fit a need. And I think it would be good to get another Argentinian player onto the team who can hopefully speak Acosta's soccer language.